From around the world: Chicago.(North America)(Opera Review)

Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro has been called one of the great achievements of Western civilization, an assessment reflective of the work's profound treatise on the very nature of humanity, as well as of its glorious music. Lyric Opera of Chicago's season-opening revival scored high in both areas, with a theatrically illuminating, lyrically graceful rendering of this talc of sexual politicking among the social classes.

Though forced by illness to cancel later performances, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo sang a darkly resonant account of the title role (Sept. 20). This Figaro was a young, vivacious man, nimble in body and mind, unwavering in his passion for Susanna--and given Isabel Bayrakdarian in the role, who could blame him? No bow-on-the-behind soubrette, Bayrakdarian's Susanna was a keenly intelligent woman acutely aware of the personal allure that is causing all the trouble. Her ravishing "Deh, vieni" was but one highlight of a performance sung throughout with spirit and tonal purity. There was no ambiguity here regarding Susanna's feelings for her randy master, bur Peter Mattei's Count must be the sexiest ever, a tall, imposing presence with a hint of predatory sexuality in the very timbre of his burnished instrument. A fine actor, Mattei managed to convey the character's pomposity without resorting to bluster, and he was consistently mindful of the comedic foolishness that underlines the man's narcissism.

In recent seasons, Ruth Ann Swenson has grown beyond her coloratura roots to embrace a more lyric repertory. Here she tackled the Countess, a role demanding a deeply internalized expressivity and rock-solid legato. Though perhaps not ideal in those respects, Swanson offered timbral shimmer and amplitude that counted for much, and her Countess was a livelier creature than most.

Angelika Kirchschlager's cancellation was an understandable disappointment for Lyric subscribers who had anticipated the celebrated mezzo's house debut as Cherubino. In her stead, Lauren McNeese proved winning, giving a performance of impressive technical accomplishment and a charmingly boyish characterization to boot. Delores Ziegler's Marcellina and Andrea Silvestrelli's Bartolo (wonderfully sonorous ill his vengeance aria) provided a hint of farce while avoiding caricature, as did Ryland Davies, with his familiar Basilio. The cast was completed by John Easterlin's fastidious Curzio, Philip Kraus's comically befuddled Antonio and a gracefully sung Barbarina by Nicole Cabell, who sounds like a Susanna in the making.

The Peter Hall/John Bury production, which originated here in 1987, wears its years gracefully. Hall oversees each revival, rethinking the show each time; he even resists the word 'revival." This Figaro remains a testament that "traditional" productions needn't relegate the classics to museum display, nor fail to probe their emotional depths. As is appropriate for this most humane of all operas, Hall's sensible, dramatically specific direction of his new cast created three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood characters who just happen to sing gloriously. Bury's realistic interiors of muted reds and browns, lovely under the sepia wash of Duane Schuler's lighting, managed to suggest grandeur while providing an intimate environmental frame for the action.

Andrew Davis conducted a performance utilizing minimal embellishment, save the occasional appoggiatura. He drew consistently beautiful playing from the Lyric Opera orchestra, in a reading of scrupulous musicality, complemented by Eric ...